I'm surprised as I always considered
Leisure Hive somewhat underrated. At the time, it seemed a bit of a welcome breath of fresh air, restoring a more dramatically serious mood as a refreshing change from some of the more excessive overindulgences of the previous season or two.
Deciding on which classic Who stories are the worst is very difficult for me because, like others on here, I occasionally feel more charitable to certain episodes depending on mood. And perhaps we all have our favourite eras we might consider untouchable of course - for instance, Maxil might favour the McCoy era whereas for me it might be the Pertwee era
Also I don't want to nominate any stories I've missed seeing or indeed episodes like
The Space Pirates if I can't actually watch the entire story or haven't listened to its missing episode soundtrack either.
Some stories I certainly remember disliking at the original time of viewing yet later I reappraised or found to have at least some worthy amusement value. These include
Creature from the Pit - badly let down by silly shenanigans, even by the standards of that era, and surely a better production team should have cut the oral sex antics
And then there's
Twin Dilemma that actually works well enough in places but remains just too appallingly ridiculous a story to follow the sublime
Caves episodes
that really should have closed that season on such a dramatic high.
Time and the Rani is a story I've grown to enjoy fleeting moments of but for me it'll always be soured somehow by too much lingering dissastisfaction regarding the premature way Colin Baker was ditched.
Anyway, here's my current bottom ten - in no particular order -
1. Castrovalva
Fair enough if you enjoy this one but personally I find it dreary and disappointing especially for such a story heralding a new era. Surely something more dynamic and exciting could have been sustained to launch Davison's Doctor? Instead it all feels too confined when it should be spreading its wings and, worst of all, we have a new Doctor (then the first in quite a long while) who is rendered useless for most of the running time.
2. Time-Flight
After the brilliant
Earthshock had restored some excitement and drama to the programme, did they really think audiences would appreciate this crap?
3. Underworld
Any good points in this rather dull effort are hobbled by interminably ineffective CSO. This is the point for me where the Tom Baker era breaks with a long and fairly consistent good run as it starts to get more erratic and quality goes downhill.
4. Invasion of Time
I loved
Deadly Assassin so was expecting much better than what we got with this none too successful return to Gallifrey. Great to see the Sontarans come back but all the excessive humour dilutes any drama. As for the tinfoil aliens, at least the dvd version gives us a new effects option. It needed it! I found the ending embarrassingly poor too.
5. Arc of Infinity
Sounds potentially good on paper, Gallifrey! Omega! Amsterdam! Colin Baker! Michael Gough! But none of it works too well and it just feels flat. Certainly not one I ever feel like rewatching.
6. The King's Demons
I know this wasn't supposed to be that season's last story but this inconsequential bit of toss is very lacklustre and the introduction of Kamelion proved pretty ineffectual anyway. We had to wait for
Five Doctors later that year for the series to make amends.
7. Warriors of the Deep
Another one that sounds good on paper, bringing back some greats from the Pertwee era...Sea Devils! Silurians! Ingrid Pitt! After a reasonable first episode, it plunges into a badly handled tacky mess, shoddily mismanaged.
8. Terminus
I've grown slightly more tolerant of this one after a recent rewatch. This wastes the presence of the Black Guardian and, although there are some atmospheric touches. far too much of it is weakened by being dreary and dull.
9. Trial of a Time Lord
Occasional moments of quality fail to salvage the painful experience of the show being mangled and abused by BBC tossers behind the scenes. The fact that this story represents the
whole of a curtailed season wasn't a good idea to say the least. Sadly it ends Colin Baker's era on a jarring and premature note.
10. Horns of Nimon
I do find this entertaining in places but mostly it's too shabby and a touch too much pantomime in style. I might just let this one escape being in the bottom list though if I'd actually watched in full certain Sylvester stories like
Paradise Towers or
Delta and the Bannermen but they're excused simply by virtue of being unseen by me in their entirety.
Hmmmm, I should probably have included the tacky tinsel of
Timelash in there really!
Finally, all of the above stories have at least some merit when compared with the worst New Who abominations which imo have frequently sunk to such shameful depths they've made even classic Who's worst offenders look like flawless masterpieces!
And then there's Twin Dilemma that actually works well enough in places but remains just too appallingly ridiculous a story to follow the sublime Caves episodes that really should have closed that season on such a dramatic high. Time and the Rani is a story I've grown to enjoy fleeting moments of but for me it'll always be soured somehow by too much lingering dissastisfaction regarding the premature way Colin Baker was ditched.